Paedophile ex-vicar sentenced for further attacks

John Roberts was already behind bars but has been sentenced again

A paedophile former vicar who was jailed for sexually abusing children for four decades has been sentenced to a further four years after another victim came forward.

John Roberts, 89, was found guilty of 10 counts of indecent and sexual assault in 2020 and jailed for nine years.

He was vicar at St Peter's Church in Woolton, Liverpool, which is known as the "Beatles church" due to it being where John Lennon and Paul McCartney met.

Roberts has now been found guilty of a further five counts of indecent assault against a boy under the age of 14 and sentenced to four years in prison, three of which are to be served on top of his original sentence.

'Real monster'

Merseyside Police said that following publicity around the first court case another male came forward to report he too had been a victim of Roberts when he was aged 10-13 in the 1970s.

In a statement, he said: "For his entire career, [Roberts] has pedalled his lies with talk of sin, repentance and truth.

"I'm appalled that he has shown no intention of following his own guidance.

"How dare he use his God to disguise the real monster that he truly is. Monstrous acts on vulnerable helpless children over decades.

"I cope with it in a fashion, but I speak for those that didn't."

Three previous people reported attacks by Roberts in 2018 - one who had been assaulted as a boy in the 1980s, one who he attacked when they were a child in the 2000s, and one who was abused as an adult in the 2010s.

Roberts was previously convicted of sexual assault in 1989 but had remained in the Church of England after that conviction and became a canon.

Det Con David Tweedle said the victim had trusted Roberts because of the position he held - a trust he had "abused in the most heinous way".

"Today’s result in court will not undo the impact of Roberts’ actions, but I hope the victim and his family takes some sense of justice from it," he said.

"He has shown immense courage to come forward and speak about the hurt Roberts caused and the problems he has faced since."